Memories of loved and lost cherry blossoms
by shinobi-Sakura
Summary: it's been 2 years since he left. every night Sakura has been tormented by nightmares. on her 15th birthday Sakura recieves a strange necklace by her bedside and starts to become afraid of herself. And then he returns. SasuSaku fic
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own naruto, sasuke or sakura or ever will...thus I write fanfics to make me think I do.

Memories of loved and lost Cherry Blossems_  
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Prolouge_  
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_Blood._

_A sea of endless blood._

_A figure stood among the blood. It was impossible to tell who it was in the blood. The figure's body was tall and slim looking, with brood shoulders. A thin, black cloak was draped around their body. The hood covered the back of their head. The figure's right hand was a blaze in a mixture of white and blue light. The opposite hand firmly grasped a kunai._

_  
From the kunai dripped blood._

_Each little drip created a set of echoing ripples in the red sea. A thin gust of wind started to flow from out of nowhere. It was eerie and hollow sounding. Little pink flower petals began to fall from the sky. They seemed to dance in the wind. The petals danced towards the blood and delicately dipped themselves into the red liquid. _

_A solemn presence seemed to come from nowhere. The feeling was quickly hushed away by the flow of the wind. The soft current became instantly transformed. The flow aggressively gathered up the mixture of pink and red, and flowed in circular-like motion. The newly formed twisters of blood and petals spun silently around the hooded figure. The sound of the wind never came to be heard. Time seemed to have stopped and the echoing of the dripping blood vanished._

_ The figure began to move._

_ Slowly the back of the black hooded head became more and more visible. The arm that held the kunai moved upward. The twisters silently flicked specs of blood onto the cloak. The figure ignored it and instead began to focus their gaze on something in the distance. Then with ease and a graceful manner, the figure launched the kunai at its target. The knife slid from it users fingers and flew point first threw the air. It hurtled past the red twisters and dogged the pink flower petals with ease. The kunai sliced threw the air and approached its target. It drew closer and closer and closer. _

_ A blood curdling scream filled the once silent air…………………………_

**AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!**

"Stop it!"

Sakura jerked her eyes open. She stared at her surrounding and signed heavily. Her long strands of pink hair stuck to her forehead. Slowly Sakura reached up to brush the pieces away and felt the tip of her head. She immediately pulled her hand away. It was wet and glistened in the moonlight. Taking both of her hands, Sakura placed them on the sides of her cheek. The tips of her fingers began to feel hot and before long her entire hand felt like it was on fire. Sakura moved her hands away from her cheeks and placed one of them back onto her forehead. The palm began to moisten with sweat.

Slowly Sakura got up from her bed and headed for the bathroom. She flicked the light on and observed herself in the mirror. Her face was shining with sweat and her cheeks were ablaze. The long locks of pink hair were partially matted on her forehead while the part was frizzy and sticky looking. Her lovely emerald green eyes were blood-shot and looked like they had been deprived of sleep fort days. Sakura eyed herself for a moment and then turned for the toilet.

Within a minute her head was sticking in the opening and her mouth was filled with a bitter taste. Slowly she tried to stand back up. Her knees cringed and she thrust her hands in front of her body for balance. After a painful ten minutes Sakura made it back to her room and gave way to the immense pain that filled her body. She flopped down onto the bed and laid her head down on the pillow. Her eyes gazed up at the ceiling and her mind began to drift. Her thoughts drifted and became focused on one single thought. Him.

His face, his movements, and his presence. The way that he acted as if he had no feelings in his heart. The feeling that every person got if you ever looked him in the eye. His face, which never showed an ounce of fear. Which never even showed the smallest trace of a smile. He had been the last survivor of his clan and had to carry on its burdens. The feeling of hurt that she had always received from his words, but she had always been able to ignore it. She had never once cried because of the way that he treated her or overlooked her either. Sakura had sworn that ever since he left that she would become stronger and never let herself cry.

Slowly Sakura came back into reality. She opened her eyes and turned her body towards the wall. She squinted her eyes to hide the tears that tried to escape from their hiding place. A cold gust of air entered the room from the little space that the window had been left open. Sakura grasped onto the covers and placed them up to her chin.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura mumbled and then gave into the darkness of sleep.

Outside of the window the night air hung still and quiet. On top of a tree branch a hooded figure watched the kunochi drift into sleep once again. The figure blended in with the dark of night that even if someone passed by the tree they would not even give it a second glance. The figure stood up slowly and turned his back to the room. Cherry blossoms flew from the surrounding trees as the wind picked up. as though it were a signal the figure turned to head back into the darkness of night. The figure took one more look at the room and uttered one single word, which could barely be heard in the breeze.

"Sakura".

The hooded figure then turned and disappeared into the night, with a small smirk on their face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, not now or ever... thus I write fics to make me think I do!**_  
_

**Yeah, new chap! i was gonna wait for more more of those who viewed me to review but i've been dieing to write all during school. thanks to all my kind reviewers... **

**sweetnadsehiko: yes it is isn't it!**

**Saliorprincess3234: i know who the hooded figure is too, and all will start to make sense(hopefully) in the next chap.**

**RayneSpirit: thanks and i will!**

**Sacred Sakura of Konoha: i update very fast!**

**Twin Psychos: thanks and not a problem! **

**Memories of loved and lost Cherry Blossems**_  
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**Chapter 1**_  
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**Forgotten Days**_  
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_Night_

_Fear of the dawn,_

_How time moves us apart,_

_The emptiness never can fade,_

_Hearts can never be healed,_

_Tranquil days vanish,_

_Choices are made,_

_Roads taken on whim and roads taken on thought,_

_A meeting of farewells,_

_Of pain,_

_And deadly loneliness,_

_A scream,_

_A tear,_

_Hearts shatter,_

_Pieces caught before broken,_

_Locked away tightly,_

_Waiting for a day,_

_Time moves again,_

_A meeting of forevers…_

She couldn't sleep. Every time that she got close enough for the darkness to claim her, she would awake before its grasp took hold of her. After an hour or two of fighting it off Sakura decided to leave her safe haven and go do her morning training exercises.

After a quick shower she changed into her outfit; a red sleeveless top and black shorts. Over a year ago she had stopped wearing her red dress and ditched it for a more form fitting simpler outfit that increased her speed and movements in battle. Her hair had grown out a little but only went a bit lower than her shoulders and she still wore her pink-locks as she had when she first became a ninja. Sakura had stopped being so self conscious and even though she didn't really care about her looks she was still the prettiest kunoichi in Konoha.

Sakura grabbed her pouch and her shuriken holder and left her apartment. The streets were empty and held a sort of eerie feeling to them. Sakura headed towards the woods and found her usual location. Ever since Sakura had become apprenticed to Tsunade-sama her skills had greatly increased. She had learned to canal her chakara into super human strength, healing abilities, and she could master at least ten new hand seals a day.

After three straight hours of training Sakura decided to end for now and head back home before she had to begin her duties. On her way home Sakura passed the flower shop that Ino's family owned. Sakura continued walking home since normally Ino would shoo her away because of all her customers.

"Hey Sakura!" Ino yelled. "Wait up for a second!"

Sakura turned around and waited for her friend to catch up.

"Thanks," Ino said. "How come you didn't come in today?"

Sakura shrugged. "You told me not to bother you cause of all the costumers."

"Yeah but today you could have," Ino replied with a smile.

"And why is that?" Sakura asked looking puzzled.

"Come on," Ino said in disbelief. "Guess."

Sakura tried to think of any reason why Ino would let her bother her today. It wasn't like toady was any sort of special day or something. And it wasn't like Ino had just seen Shikamaru again and wanted to blab about every little detail. Seeing Sakura confused Ino's face dropped and her lips formed into a frown.

"Sakura, don't tell me you forgot that today was your birthday?"

Sakura stared at Ino in disbelief and then finally realized the truth. She nodded silently and stared at the ground. It was her birthday. She had been trying over and over again to forget it. And now stupid Ino had to ruin all her work; two years of work down the toilet.

In an instant all of Sakura's sadness turned towards anger. The bitter hot feeling took hold of her, grasping hard and not letting her loose. Her mind couldn't think straight; her only urge was to have to feeling release her. Sakura turned towards Ino and the feeling took her over.

"You stupid fool," she spat. "You ruined everything."

It took all of Sakura's inner strength to avoid yelling and actually hitting Ino.

"Just stay out of my damn business," Sakura cursed. "And worry more about your own idiotic, perfect life!"

Sakura screamed the last sentence out and then turned on her heals and ran home. Ino didn't even try to stop her; it was her own damn fault anyway. Ino had forgotten not to mention that day, but bull; she had been the idiot and forgotten. She knew that nothing she did or said now could heal Sakura now. The last time that Ino had done something that stupid and tried to comfort Sakura… she didn't even want to remember it. Soon the pain would subside and Sakura would act like nothing had happened… that was even worse.

It had started to rain. The drops pelted Sakura as she ran, not even noticing a thing. Her face burned and she didn't stop until she arrived at her apartment. It was dark and gloomy, everything that Sakura was now. She looked out the window, finally noticing the rain. It sometimes felt like since she refused to let herself cry that nature could feel her pain and cried for her.

Sakura turned from the window and something caught her eye. In the corner of her room, on top of her dresser, was a picture from when she had first been assigned to team seven. In back was Kakashi, in the middle she stood, and on either sides were her teammates; glaring angrily at each other. She tried to focus on Naruto and Kakashi but her eyes kept staring at him.

She continued staring until her body began to burn. Her head banged with pain and her mind began to go blank. The room began to spin and all went silent. The pain in her head slowly moved towards her neck, only worse. Sakura scratched her neck in frustration and hit her head against the wooden bed post. Her neck became more painful and her arms began to feel hot and her mouth filled with a vile taste. Her senses became over powered with a putrid smell and her whole body felt sickeningly wet and sticky.

Sakura cried out in a mixture of rage and fright.

All she was able to hear was an annoying dripping sound. It drove her crazy. She grasped her head and tried to force it out of her thoughts. Every time she tried to force it out something new entered her mind.

A voice seemed to call out to her, telling her to let go. Each time the voice got stronger and her reluctance withered. A figure seemed to form from the voice and took shape. Sakura longed to go to the figure. She knew that if she went that the pain would end and she would be safe.

Her neck burned painfully again. Sakura let the figure take hold of her. Her mind went blank.

And all her pain vanished with the coming darkness.

**what do ya think? i like to keep my readers guessing**! **next chap gets more interesting and we get to meet some other friendly faces too! i'm hopeing to get some good reviews from new and returning reviewers! but if i don't get a bunch i might start to focus more on my other story or stop updating so quick with this one. PLEASE REVIEW MY FIC! also what about that poem i made up in the begining... try and guess what it's about!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...but i can dream about owning Sasuke!**

hey everyone! wow it feels like its been awhile for this fic. i am so glad that a lot of people have seen it and some have even sent me kind reviews too! where i am now we're supposed to get like 6 inches or more of snow(not gonna happen) and everyone's praying for asnow day. i need a break so i'm with them! oh and i also handed in a piece of art work with sakura on it as a project for my teacher(I am an excelent anime artist, especially sakura)! wish me luck! ...sorry i was listening to my ipod(love that japanese music). any way enough of my talk, let's get to the fic!

**Memories of loved and lost Cherry Blossom  
chapter 2  
Remembering this and finding that**

Slowly Sakura opened her eyes. She stared at her surroundings then turned her glance to the walls around and above her. Her pupils formed and focused on the ceiling above her. She breathed in the stiff air with much difficulty. Her lungs felt heavy. Her limps felt weak and all but moveable. All the while Sakura kept her focus on the ceiling above her. With a rasping voice unlike her own Sakura mumbled something before passing out.

"Unfamiliar ceiling."

An hour or so later the door to the room finally opened.

_Quiet steps. _

The person was trying their hardest to conceal their presence. But even as they walked in the room Sakura could feel them from down the hallway. The chakara amount was pretty big but weakening from what felt like exhaustion.

Sakura tried to force her muscles to act but they painfully refused. She then tries to focus her energy through her arms in hopes of getting a weapon to come to her. No such luck; all that did was waste her remaining energy.

The presence kept their steps light but tripped over something as they moved. Sakura snapped open her eyes with a start. With some of her remaining strength she jolted her body upward. She gripped the bars along the bed for support and steadied herself. Sakura turned her neck and tried to look at the presence.

Immediately her neck began to burn with pain. Sakura gripped her neck with enough force to rip it off her body. It had been bandaged all the way around and tightly wrapped so she couldn't rip the bandages off. Off to the side the presence jumped from the ground and rushed to her side. Her right ear wasn't really working so in between winces Sakura could barely her what he was saying. But the words were a mixture or exhaustion and fear.

"Sakura-chan!" he exclaimed. "Hold on!"

Sakura turned her head towards the figure.

"Naruto," she gasped in between breathes.

But as she faced and said his name her neck burned worse than ever. Sakura doubled over and slowly turned her head away from Naruto's concerned face. The burning feeling subsided enough for her to be able to release her neck slightly.

She sat up right and stared out the window of the room. Naruto slowly backed off of the bed and moved towards the side railings to a chair. He sat down and faced the back of Sakura's head; which she could clearly see through the window's reflection. Both remained silent for some time until the silence was broken.

"Where am I?"Sakura asked. "How did I get here?"

Naruto stared at her in disbelief for a moment and then switched to a solemn face. He started slowly, choosing his words carefully before he began.

"You're in the hospital," Naruto started slowly. "I brought you here."

Sakura continued staring out the window, showing no emotion on her face.

"How?"

Naruto shuffled uneasily in the chair. "I was coming to see you; to visit…

"You came by yesterday," Sakura cut in. "If it still is today."

Naruto waited for her to finish and continued onward. "I was coming to visit you," he restated. "See if you were alright."

Sakura gripped the handlebar to keep her self from turning around and lashing out as Naruto.

"And how did you get into my house?" Sakura calmly asked. "How did you know anything was wrong?"

"I heard you…screaming," Naruto muttered. "I broke your window and brought you here."

"Why?" Sakura asked in a cold tone unlike her own.

For a moment it felt as though Sakura wasn't speaking for herself; but the moment soon faded. After a few minutes Naruto spoke again with a strong feeling.

"Because you're my teammate…a very precious person to me."

Through the window Sakura could see him stand with his fists' clenched. His face seemed to explode with feelings and emotions.

"And…I don't know what I'd do if something were to happen to you because of…"

Sakura clenched the bars tightly and could feel it dent into her skin. Her knuckles turned white and her arms grew sore. She bit her lip until she felt some blood drip from the opening. Naruto stopped noticing how she had become. He slowly headed to the door. He gripped the handle forcefully and turned to face Sakura.

"You know Sakura-chan… doing this isn't going to make anyone happy," he stated. "Not you…and not him."

With on last longing look Naruto glanced her way and left the room; silent once more. Sakura could feel her eyes start to well up with a familiar feeling. She wanted to cry so badly. She wanted to stop Naruto before he left; she wanted…needed to be around someone who cared. She kept her breathes short and slow.

Sakura kept her eyes straight ahead. Naruto's words kept echoing in her head; over and over. She continued to look out the window, the path it focused on; it lead out of the village. She kept staring at it; Naruto's words seemed to mix with another's. The words were so similar, almost the same. Sakura kept looking; tears welled up in her eyes.

_Those words…those words. _

_Those damn words. _

_Those fricken words! _

_Those words…were the exact same words that I said to him._

_ To…Sasuke-kun.

* * *

_

The day went by slowly after that. Some people came by to see her, but Sakura could hardly remember them now. Naruto didn't come back. The pain in Sakura's neck didn't come back and it seemed that Naruto hadn't mentioned it to any of the staff.

The sun began to slowly set and Sakura grew bored. She had to get out of here or she might lash out again. She had already redressed herself and was sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. She seemed to have regained most of her strength and stamina. As if on cue the door opened. One of the nurses, who had come in earlier to inject Sakura, entered and spoke rather quickly.

"All your testes cleared out," she stated. "And the Hokage has approved of you being released, so you can go now."

Sakura nodded and the nurse left. She turned to the window and opened the latch. Sakura leaped to the railing and looked at the ground below. Without a second thought Sakura leaned towards the edge and let herself fall. The cool night air breeze gently touched her skin; it played with her hair. She kept her eyes open, almost daring the breeze to shut them.

As she neared the ground Sakura adjusted her position. She focused her chakara on the soles of her shoes and felt the energy take shape. She flipped in the air and hit the ground, feet first. Sakura rose from the ground and stood straight. The wind picked up and blew past her shoulders. It seemed to almost pull her away from her destination.

Instead it pushed her to the path to her house, if you could call it that. It was cold…dark…it held no life in it. Ever since that incident exactly one year ago Sakura had taken dwelling in that dreary place. As she walked Sakura became consumed by her memories.

It had been cold and strangely calm. A mission…she had been on a training mission with another team. It had been late when she had come home; all the lights were off. She had gone in, thinking her parents were asleep she had been very quiet. The next moment was all a blur. She remembered a cloak of black. The figure had been wearing a Konoha forehead protector, a slash in the middle of the symbol. She had held her own for most of the fight. But then…red. That was the last thing that she had seen. Redness, deep pools of red swirls.

Then nothing.

Sakura shuttered. The wind felt like it was pulling out the memories, slowly extracting them one by one from her mind. Sakura shuttered at the thought and kept walking, the wind pulling her all the way. When Sakura arrived at the house she slowly opened the door almost afraid that the same sight would meet her yet again.

_Nothing. _

Sakura breathed out a sigh of relief and let out a held in breath. She slowly headed to her room. She opened the door, expecting to see pieces of broken glass around the floor and a hole in the window. The glass had been cleared and the window repaired with a new one in its place. Sakura headed into the room, leaving the light off. Her eyes adjusted to the area and walked to the middle of the room.

She scanned the room. Sakura was about to give into the safety of sleep when her emerald orbs spotted something on the corner of her desk. As Sakura walked over to the desk the room seemed to shake and spin again. Sakura hastened her steps and closed in on the desk. Using the side of the desk to steady herself Sakura leaned over the desk to take a better look at the object.

It was a small round orb. The orb was a mixture of blues, pinks, reds, greens, blacks, and whites. In the darkness it seemed to shine even brighter than it would in the light. Attached to the tip of the orb was a piece of thin black string, which looked pretty strong.

Around Sakura the room continued to spin, even faster than the first time. Sakura reached her hand out towards the necklace. Her whole body shook harder as she neared closer. Her breath became stiffened and slower. Her neck began to burn again, but the pain felt different this time. It seemed to push her forward; edging her to get closer. With all her remaining strength Sakura reached her fingers out and grabbed the necklace.

It stopped. The spinning had vanished as though it had never existed in the first place. Sakura stood up straight and fell to the floor.

_Guess I over did it, huh?_

She almost expected to her someone reply back with a sly comment, but nothing. Along with her parents, the inner self that had dawned inner-sakura had died inside of herself months ago. Sakura looked up at the ceiling above her and slowly stood up. Her feet were shaking and just barely held her weight on them. Sakura inched towards her bed and dropped her body onto it.

Sakura stared at the invading moonlight entering the room's window. The light reflected off of the necklace and showed a beauty of arranged colors. Sakura took the necklace within her fingers and draped it over and behind her head. She looped it around her neck and tied it tightly.

Sakura slid to the edge of her bed and stared at the mirror in the corner of the room. She than collapsed onto the bed and let the darkness of sleep take her in its arms. She wanted to clear her mind from all that had happened now and then.

But in the mirror were Sakura had looked something still remained in the reflection. Sakura had seen it but ignored it with exhaustion. When she had looked in the mirror there had been someone else staring back at her.

The reflection wasn't her own. The hair had been shorter. It had been blacker. And the eyes. The eyes had been redder. Crimson pools of swirling red.

Red that could see into the pits of her soul.

Red that did not wish to let go of that soul.

Of that girl.

**to be continued...**

**hehe... aren't i the evil one! ** **ok, ok sorry about the cliffhanger there but if it makes u happy i was gonna stop at the spot before the line. anyway i hope to have a snow day(yeah right) and work on updating my third fic "seeing love" and maybe answer some e-mails(hint hint) . thanks for continuing to read and i wanna say a special thank you to all my nice, loyal, kind, blah blah blah reviewers! thanks u guys for making chap 3 possible! until next time GO FIRE!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: i don't own Naruto...nor can i ever own him...i wanna own Sasuke!**

hey everyone! this chap took my so long to type...plus i have this stupid cold...damn germs! i was on this thing till 3'o clock on the morning so u all better like this chap...please. alot of fighting in this chap..i really wanted to show some of Sakura's strength in this chap...plus someone u've beeen wanting to seee makes an appearence. so i hope u all are enjoying this break more than i am...except for the chanukkah gifts...anime, manga, jpop,and games galore!

**Memories of loved and lost Cherry Blossems  
**

**Chapter 4**

**Unmasked in the rain**_  
_

_Are you there…_

_Please don't be there…_

_Don't leave me…_

_Look at me…_

_Look at me…_

_Damn it…LOOK AT ME!_

_Don't ignore me…_

_Please love me…_

_I love you with all my heart…_

You're still annoying.

_Pease don't hate me…_

You're still annoying.

_Is that what you really think…_

You're still annoying.

_Don't say that…_

You're still annoying.

_Stop it…_

You're still annoying.

_Stop it…_

You're still annoying.

_STOP IT!_

"Stop it!" Sakura yelled. "Please stop making me remember."

Sakura slowly sat up in her bed and held her hands over her eyes. She had made it just before the tears started. She kept them over her eyes for a minute. Then she removed them and left her bed. After looking at her clock and seeing she had plenty of time Sakura headed for the bathroom. She removed her clothing, grabbed a towel, and turned on the shower's water knobs.

Then Sakura stepped into the shower and let the water consume her. As the water grew colder Sakura wrapped her arms around her body, hoping for some type of protection. The water returned to warm for a few minutes, then back to cold and stayed there.

_Strange… this water is like me. I wonder…will my heart stay as cold as this water?_

Sakura finished with the long shower and returned to her room. She pulled out her normal outfit; red short sleeved top and plain black shorts. After dressing herself she looked out the window. It was cloudy and the sun was completely hidden within the dark clouds. For about three years this type of weather had become very common in Konoha.

Sakura grabbed her pouch and filled it with the necessary weapons she needed. She grabbed a few kunai and headed out the door. She turned the corner and headed towards the woods. She avoided every place that anyone she knew would spot her. When she arrived at the woods she removed her weapons. After a moment Sakura began performing a few advanced hand symbols.

Over the years Sakura had began looking through Tsunade's old records and jutsu recordings. She had spent hours reading over all of them and memorizing word for word. She would then go off into the far off training grounds and practice each new jutsu. After about a week she had learned more than seventy- five percent of every jutsu on the files. Soon Sakura was able to gain enough information to create her own jutsu styles and attacks.

Sakura finished her hand seals and performed the final seal. Smoke appeared from the air and began to quickly take shape. Standing in front of Sakura was an exact clone of herself down to the very last detail. This jutsu was very similar to Naruto's Kage no Bushin no jutsu. But Sakura's clone had every type of skill that she herself possessed and this clone was created to fight its opponent and not vanish on contact.

Sakura faced the clone and nodded her head in its direction. The clone followed her lead and nodded back. Sakura then reached towards the ground for her weapons. The clone's fingers slowly changed shape and created its own kunai from its fingers. They both got into their fighting stances and faced each other. Then they advanced.

Sakura landed the first blow to the clone's lower chest. The clone returned the blow with a kick that almost knocked Sakura off her feet. Sakura pulled up her kunai and swung it at the clone's right shoulder. It landed the blow which healed instantly. Another skill Sakura had learned was to be able to heal her wounds by quickly focusing a small amount of her own chakra on the area. With that skill Sakura didn't even need to perform hand seals on herself either.

The clone formed a few shuriken from its fingers and launched them at Sakura. Sakura quickly avoided them and moved towards the clone. Sakura pulled out a few kunai and aimed them for the area behind the clone. With perfect aim Sakura missed the clone and hit the tree branch behind its body. The clone stared at her for a moment and then smirked with pleasure.

Sakura smirked right along with the clone and then made her move. She pulled her finger through the air and pulled them towards her. Immediately the clone looked at her in horror and tried to move out of the way but was too slow. Its body was thrown back against the tree branch.

The clone struggled and tried to escape Sakura's trap but even as it tried small amounts of blood began to bleed from the limbs which were bound to the tree. Sakura then quickly moved in front of the clone and performed some hand seals. As she performed the seals Sakura brought the final seal to the tips of her mouth and grew tense.

After the final seal she breathed in and released her breath. As she did a huge flame emerged from her lips and headed down an invisible line towards the clone. The clone took a long look at the flames and smiled as it was enveloped in the fiery swirls of heat. After a moment the flame settled a vanished.

The clone stood at the center of it. The body looked decapitated and most of it seemed to have been burned off. Slowly its shape began to recreate itself. Meanwhile Sakura had taken all of her concentration off of the clone and focused on what had just happened.

_How the hell? When did I learn that move? _

_I don't remember ever practicing it before._

_ I've only seen it in battle…on old missions…but I've never tried it myself. _

_What the hell is going on?_

Out of nowhere Sakura was slammed against the ground. The clone grinned in satisfaction; it looked completely back to its original form. Sakura rose to her feet and returned to the battle. Sakura raced towards the clone and pulled out her remaining kunai. The clone formed another from its hands and advanced at Sakura. For a few minutes the two were locked in a tight struggle to their strength. All through out the woods the sounds of banging weapons echoed the air.

Sakura than tried to advance further and tripped over a tree root. The clone took this opportunity and rammed its kunai into Sakura's lower stomach area, just missing her vital organs. The clone than hurled Sakura's body across the area into a rock near the very edge. Sakura tried to stand up but doubled over in pain.

She tried to remember the correct technique to heal her injuries but her mind instantly went blank. All around her Sakura could hear a faint sound in the distance. After a second Sakura was able to make out the sound; it was screaming.

All around her the air grew tense and loud, putrid screams filled the air. Every scream sounded worse than the last. Sakura grabbed her ears and tried to block out the horrible sounds. But even as she tried to block them out they became even louder and more painful to block out.

_Please stop. _

_Stop it! _

_GOD DAMN IT! _

_STOP IT!_

Sakura slowly stood up and faced the clone. Sakura released her hands from her ears and lowered them to her sides. The next moment Sakura lost all control.

Her hands rose up in front of her and began to move quickly. Then her left arm exploded into a mixture of blue and white light. Sakura's right arm grabbed her left shoulder and gripped it tightly. With amazing speed her body moved towards the clone. The clone stared at Sakura and looked confused.

But more then anything its face was filled with fear. Sakura's body leaped into the air and headed straight for the clone. Her right arm released its hold on the left arm and aimed for the clone. In an instant the clone was enveloped in the white and blue light. The clone's body began to lose its shape and melted in with the surrounding air.

Soon it had completely disappeared from the battle. Sakura slowly fell to the ground on her knees. Her breathes became forced out. It felt as though she had been under water with no air to breath. Sakura shook furiously. Her whole body felt a blaze with a mixture of a freezing cold sensation and the heat of fresh blood splattered.

_That's impossible. _

_The blood that the clone possesses is only a mixture of air pressure and condensed water from the surrounding area. _

_The blood it showed…it wasn't real._

Sakura then kneeled over till her face was only a few inches from the ground and chocked for a second. Then the vomit let loose from her mouth. Sakura used her right arm and wiped the remains of it from her outer mouth. As she stood up she gripped her left arm tightly afraid that if she let it loose the blue light would appear again.

She left her remaining weapons where they were on the ground. Her body struggled to keep moving. Her eyesight was weakening…most likely from the energy she had used during the battle. The clouds in the sky grouped together. The area became darker like the night only more menacing. Soon rain began to fall from the clouds. It seemed so familiar.

Sakura kept walking through the woods. She didn't care where she was anymore nor did she really know where she was heading. A few years ago Sakura would have probably ran from the rain, trying to seek shelter from the water. Now she let the drops hit her softly. It all felt so natural to her.

_Why did that happen? It doesn't make any bit of sense. _

_Those moves I performed…I've never tried them before. _

_And those hand seals…they were so familiar. _

Sakura kept moving deeper into the woods. The rain penetrated the tree branches and fell onto the top of her hair. She was soaked from head to toe. But she kept moving onward clutching her arm forcefully. Finally Sakura stopped. She was right in front of a huge tree trunk. The skin of the bark showed signs of a fight from not too long ago, maybe a few days or a week ago.

Sakura leaned down and rested her back on it. Her vision had become so bad now that she could barley see anything in front of her. Her neck started to burn for some strange reason. Sakura released her hold on her left arm and moved her right arm towards the back of her neck. As she did her fingers brushed against the string of the necklace that she had found last night.

The rope felt warm for some reason. She moved her fingers down towards the orb and gripped it tightly. The orb felt even warmer than the rope. It almost felt like another person's body was right up against her own cold one. Sakura moved her other hand against the orb and gripped it. The pain on her neck increased quickly.

Her body felt weaker than before. It felt as if she had been fighting for hours and were still fighting now. She had not lost that much blood in the fight but it felt like she had little left. Sakura slowly rose to her feet. She struggled for a minute but then was able to move forwards. Her feet ached with each step.

As she moved she could feel something near her. Something or someone was watching her from a short distance away. Sakura turned towards the figure's chakra. It seemed to be weakened from a fight and the figure was trying very hard to keep itself hidden.

Quickly but carefully Sakura pulled out her remaining kunai that she had kept from the battle. She drew it up in front of her face and looked to the trees. Taking her right arm Sakura made some quick seals. In the distance she heard the sounds of movement and kunai scraping against each other. Then nothing.

_Damn. Guess they can hold their own in a fight. _

_Well this is the only thing left to do._

Sakura performed a couple more seals and then rushed towards the trees. She jumped into the air and looked below at the trees. In an instant a few kunai appeared in the air and Sakura took aim. Then she performed the final seal and released the kunai below. Exploding sounds filled the air. None of the trees burned since the rain hadn't let up.

Straight from the smoke something headed towards Sakura. The figure missed Sakura by only a few inches. Sakura brought up her leg and sent the figure back to the ground. Sakura landed only a few meters away from the figure. The figure stood up.

Sakura pulled out some shuriken from her pouch and launched them at the figure's face. The figure brought up its kunai and blocked the shuriken. Sakura faced the figure and made no advance. The figure followed suit and made no movements.

"Who the hell are you?" Sakura asked.

She eyed the figure up and down. It was impossible to tell who it was since it wore a black cloak the covered its entire body from head to toe. The figure remained silent.

"Fine then," Sakura muttered. "I'll just kill you first."

Sakura raced towards the figure. She swung her kunai at its face but the figure brought up its kunai and blocked her. Sakura kept her stand and held her kunai against the other. The figures hold on its kunai weakened by a small fraction.

Taking the moment Sakura moved hers forward. The figure's face inched closer to her own. Then the figure's lips were on her own. For a brief second Sakura remained still. She almost leaned into the kiss but after a moment pushed away. She forcefully swung her kunai at the figure's face and barley missed. The figure jumped back almost startled by her movements.

"Bastard!" Sakura yelled.

Sakura ran forwards and launched a powerful kick at the figure's stomach. The figure brought up its hands and grabbed her leg be fore it hit its target. Sakura pulled it back and jumped backwards towards the edge of the forest. Sakura stumbled against the edge.

The battle had moved from the middle of the woods to the very edge of the grounds. At the edge was a drop that led to the long river below. Anyone who fell down the there without the right control was considered as good as dead. Sakura was too close to the drop.

The figure took no notice of the edge. Instead the figure sent a couple shuriken at Sakura. Sakura was too preoccupied with her current position and just noticed them too late. She took a step back to avoid the throwing stars. The shuriken nailed her arms and parts of her stomach. The impact sent her body backwards. As Sakura fell back she desperately tried to focus her remaining chakra on the soles of her feet.

For a second her feet remained on the edge of the cliff but not for long. Her chakra dried up a second later. As Sakura fell backwards she tried to think of something…anything that would allow her to regain some strength. All Sakura could think about was one thing…Sasuke. As she fell back the rain seemed to stand still in the air.

_Sasuke. Please…come back. _

All Sakura could think about was all the times that she had been around him. Every moment with him was very precious to her. When he had left Sakura had done everything in her power to get him back. She had even almost left the village to search for him…but Naruto had stopped her. Ever since then Sakura had focused more and more on her training. She had joined Tsunade as her apprentice and gained so much power. She had made it her goal to find Sasuke and show him that power could be gained from the village.

But now it seemed like all her training had been a waste. She was going to die now. As Sakura fell over the edge a few tears left her eyes. Something grabbed Sakura's arm. Sakura opened her eyes and looked below. The water below looked as it had if you were looking over the edge. Sakura then turned her head to the sky above her. Her wrist was being held just above her.

A strong hand grasped it tightly with no sign of letting her go. Sakura looked up along the arm. The black cloak was drenched with water and stuck to the skin of the figure. The hood however had fallen back due to the wind. Sakura looked up at the figure's face and grew pale.

The figure pulled her upwards slowly. Once she was on the ground Sakura just laid there for a moment. She then sat upwards on her knees and moved her hands to the dirt. Her body was shaking furiously from the fright and the cold. She looked up the figure that figure that sat next to her.

He had grown taller. His hair looked just the same only a little bit darker. He had lost his boyish features and now looked more like a man. His eyes still looked cold…more than when she had last seen him. She chocked back her words that tried to fly from her mouth. She kept her eyes focused and tried to glue the figure to the spot. Sakura held back her tears and took in a fresh breath.

"What are you doing here?"

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

few...finally done. as i said before a lot of fighting in this chapter...but a tone of drama in the next. i really was getting sick of calling that character "the figure" all the time. as for the battle between SAkura and the clone i based parts of the battle on a similar battle from the ninja exam...if u guess it u win a prize! i wanna thank all the readres that reviewed for the previous chaps...i really wanna keep writing this fic...so please all u reviewers who are returners please leave me ur comments...and i really like it when new reviewers come along too! anyway the next chap might take me a little time...i really wanna make it good. also if any of u wanna tell me what groups or what songs work well with Sasuke and Sakura please tell me...i'll tell u mine in the next chap! thanx alot for all ur help and keep reading...happy holidays!(sneeze...sniffle...sniffle).


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: i don't own Naruto...but i bought his contract for a day on my birthday.**

hey everybody. it's been awhile since i wrote for this fic...just about a month to this date but i promised u all that i would update once my midterms were done so here i am. oh and for u all that don't know my birthday was last Satureday(January 21st) which ment seeing Underworld2(see it now!)! But anyway onto the newest chap...using ur requests i added a bit of SasuSaku moments and i really hope u all are kind and review.

**Big thanx to all the reviewers...we got up to 28reviews...thanx to**

Setsuna-Yuna Uchiha, bloomingflower08, Tank, Fate's Dice Kyre-JMK, Reiyuka Yumikoto, Maiden of the Dark Light, Wasp35, HyuugaVSUchiha, emo miko, Princess Fang Ya, fRenZ4EveR, Fallen Angel Temari, Shir0-Chan, BWOLFY, Foamy Follower, cherrymoonblossoms2008, Saliorprincess3234, UchihaSakura87, dj-kat, Guardian Angel21, Kari Kimata, DarkAkira11, neu chi no nai u, LilyDraken, Wind Kunai, DeMoN-SpOrk, RoseWaters, Iloveinuyasha44, sillymail...thanx everyone!

And i wanna congradulate neu chi no nai u, UchihaSakura87, and Fate's Dice Kyre-JMK on correctly answering my question...free cookies for everyone!

**Memories of loved and lost cherry blossoms**

**Chapter 4(**sorry for the last mix-up)

**Knowing your real**

Sakura kept her eyes steady and glued onto the figure's position. It was almost as if she looked away he would just vanish from her sights, just as he had done those few years ago. She drew in another fresh breath while letting out another one that she was involuntarily holding back.

She was trying hard to hold back the urge to bombard him with about a million questions that she had been saving up each and every day he was gone. But as she opened her mouth to speak all those questions were whipped clean from her mind. The only things she could think of were foolish little remarks that flickered off of her tongue.

"I see your wearing black now huh," she muttered. "It suits you I guess."

Of course to anyone remarks like this were thought of to be stupid and just useless observations. But he wasn't like everybody else. No, he had always been more complex than that. And at times he had almost seemed as simple as a child. That was probably one of the reasons that all those years she had been drawn to him; he was something unbalanced. Even as she held him in her eyes she felt as though what she was seeing wasn't real. After a few minutes of silence she thought she was truly going insane.

_Say something. _

_Please be real. _

_Say something. _

_God Damn It!_

_ SAY SOMETHING! _

Sakura removed her eyes from being fixated on him and turned to the ground. The rain was coming down in soft little drops, not the belting down against the earth as it had been only moments ago. By then Sakura couldn't tell if the drops against her face were from the rain or her own. But she couldn't let him see her like that. She just couldn't bear to face him after all this time.

Her hands pushed against the ground as her fingers dug into the watered soil. She could feel her whole entire body shake with enough force to shake off the continuous rainfall. Across from her position she could just barely hear the sounds of him getting up from the soaked dirt ground. He moved over towards her and removed his cloak from his body. With such grace that no other person could achieve he moved soundlessly towards her until he stood only an arms length from her freezing body.

Before she could even protest about his actions he draped the cloak over her shivering shoulders. The cloak produced a strange warmth that couldn't have come from the fabric. No, it was almost as if a certain veil had been lifted from her shoulders but only to be replaced with another more comforting one. After his motion he slowly stood back in front of her almost unsure of his next move.

Sakura glanced up at him uncertainly. She removed her fingers from the ground and placed them around the cloak pulling it tightly towards her body. She was afraid that if she let go for even a minute that the all too familiar coldness would return. Without another second to open her mouth to let loose all her words he extended his hand out towards her. Sakura did the only thing that came next into her unclear mind; she reached out and took his waiting hand.

Sakura knew that by just by doing that he was reaching out to her life a lifeline that could either pull her out of the sea or open her up to a more chaotic reality. But she took it without hesitation. Slowly he pulled her up off of the ground without a sign of difficulty. He had probably grown even more powerful over those few years too.

_How much strength has he gained? _

_Why has he decided to actually come back now? _

_What is he going to do now? _

_Has he truly gotten revenge for his clan? _

_That was what he set out to accomplish, but if he did it why is he here?_

Unconsciously Sakura was already walking right behind him. Sakura was only a step behind and deep within her own thoughts to even realize where she was even heading. Her eyes were glued to the ground and slowly they traveled up towards his tall figure. Slowly Sakura reached out her right hand towards the figure in front of her; almost afraid of what she would see when she reached out for him.

But she kept moving towards him until her fingers were a touch away from his back. And then she touched him. It was gentle but with enough force to make him stop moving ahead of her. He faced her then and stared at her with the same emotionless face that she had fallen asleep to every night. Those onyx black eyes that she had stared into many times years ago lingered on her form. His eyes were on her just as they been that fateful night; Sasuke.

"Why the hell are you here?" Sakura asked coldly.

He returned her cold tone with a small glance of his unemotional eyes and then turned them towards the ground almost as though he had not heard her. But Sakura was tired and sick of always having to be the one who was pushed to the side; ignored.

"Why the hell are you here?" Sakura repeated but in her voice was a hint of fear.

She was afraid. It wasn't a normal feeling that she had felt ever since that day Tsunade had first started training her. But now, standing in the rain with the boy who she would have done anything to see again, she was afraid. It wasn't his appearance that scared her, no; the years had been very good to him. It wasn't even the way that he had fought with her in battle, no; even with the little bit of chakra he held onto he had still fought her seriously.

The reason she was afraid was that deep down she feared that he wasn't even truly there, or if he was that he would just leave without any warning again. That was what she, for the moment, feared above all else.

"What the fuck are you doing here!" Sakura yelled loudly enough for half the forest to notice.

And after that she felt a bit of her repressed anger come spilling from her mouth. She didn't really remember what she had said just that she had been almost shaking but not from the cold. She didn't even know how long she had been yelling or how loud her voice was getting either. As she yelled she kept her eyes closed, almost as if she was trying to block out what could or could not be standing there when she reopened them.

The next second was a complete and utter blur as far as Sakura could ever remember. She felt herself spouting out more and more angry questions like "Why the hell did you have to nearly kill Naruto!" and "Why did you not even try and get stronger in the village!". The next second she felt a change in the wind movements and something edging closer to her. Then she felt it once again. This time she knew who it was and it happened so fast that she barely knew it was happening.

The gesture, his lips against hers, was what she had wished for when she had been younger. Well obviously that had shut her up and left her utterly speechless. But for some reason she didn't react as she would have normally have done. It was almost as if her inner self hadn't left her and was inside her head again, cheering Sakura on as she had done many years ago.

She didn't try to pull away from Sasuke, even though a part of her brain was telling her to let it go. But that was what had always had attracted her to Sasuke. The fact that even if she knew she shouldn't there was a part of him that pulled her to follow him anywhere. And then just like that it was over. He was the one who was supposed to break it off, but Sakura quickly pushed him away. She had opened her eyes and looked at his face in front of hers. Even if he had reached out to her, she was still afraid.

"That's new," he muttered just low enough for her to hear him.

His hands were at his side, almost like they didn't belong, and shifted into the pockets of his pants. It was enough to almost make Sakura cry out at him with either anger or happiness. It was almost like the image of him from their genin days had been taken and just aged a few years. It was almost as though he had never left, but the reality was that he had left. And what was stopping him from leaving again?

Sakura saw a brief image of how she had pleaded with him to stay, how she could make him happy, and of how she had even said that she would assist him in his mission. But he had though of her too weak and just like that he threw her aside, just as he had done to everything else. She remembered how she had promised that she would train until she was worthy of his acknowledgement.

She had sworn to bring him back no matter what was standing in her path. She had built up the strongest image and had sworn to never let her weaker self show in front of anyone. But in a flash all of her training and planning was thrown from her mind. Instead she did something that she had promised to never allow herself to do if she ever saw him again; acting like the little girl that she used to be.

She rushed right towards him and landed against his chest. She just stood there for a moment until she started to lean against his chest, accepting the fact that he was actually standing there. After a second in against him, Sakura felt his arms leave his pockets and the next second they were rapping themselves around her small body. It was almost as though he was thinking the same thing that she was, making sure that she was actually right there against him.

Sakura wasn't sure if she was crying or not but it felt like the rain was starting to settle down to a light drizzle around them both. Without thinking Sakura breathed in the scent of him, which was different from the cloak that still clung to her shoulders. There was no real way to describe what he smelled like but it engrossed Sakura into him even more than ever.

It was just another thing that made Sasuke there all the more real. She just wished that the moment didn't have to come to an end. She had lost track of how long that they had been standing there but the rain was starting to finish up its long downpour. Sasuke was the first to break the silence.

"So the old lady actually taught you how to swear huh?" he whispered low against Sakura's ear.

Sakura could imagine his face in full smirk mode as he spoke to her. Sakura shook her head not moving her face away from leaning against his chest. Sakura briefly remembered muttering something back to him but it had come out too muffled to make out what it had been. But Sakura still leaned against him not wanting to leave that spot. She was afraid that if she even moved an inch away from him that just like that he would disappear again.

Just like he had done before and many other times in previous dreams that she frequently woke up in a cold sweat and reaching her arms out to somehow feel him right in front of her. But for the first time it truly felt real, not a dream that she could be woken up from, or would want to be waken from either. It was like she was taken away from the harsh reality that had plagued her for the past few years and been allowed into a safe place.

Sakura heard Sasuke say something but her ears were acting up which made it impossible for her to hear anything that he said. All Sakura could feel was the familiar pain starting to creep up from the tip of her neck. The pain was different than the other times that it started. Instead of slowly spreading to her head, Sakura felt it spread out to every inch of her entire body.

But by far the pain coming from her neck and her head hurt the worst out of every other place. Sakura couldn't tell if she was screaming or crying out but she knew that Sasuke had noticed her behavior one way or another. The next thing Sakura felt was herself pulling away from Sasuke against her will but it was her body performing the actions. She didn't even know what the hell was going on but she could tell that this wasn't ever going to end.

_I have to make it stop…somehow…I'm not going to die now…I just can't!_

_Author's Note:_

well i finally got that chap posted. i don't really know what i thought of it but it will get better next chap so please stay with me folks. oh and i said i would say what music suits SasuSaku...well i'm running out of time so i'll say next time,k? oh and i posted a new story called "When the dream is over" and i really hope u all will view and review for it! well its getting late so i'm posting and then sleeping...thanx to everyone who encouraged me to write this chap...u guys are the best ever. _  
_


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